This response, which Spanfeller emailed out along with the questions to and answers from every other executive to the entire company as an attempt to undermine this story, prompted this response from a third sales employee. Another was more direct: Thats Jim wanting to be in control. Political party affiliation trends based on location. The Deadspin takedown covered numerous issues that have arisen since Univisions sale of the company to Great Hill, ranging from accounts of Spanfeller screaming at past employees, to allegations that the new G/O Media boss is on-boarding his old media buddies over highly qualified women who have worked at the company for years, along with numerous other accusations of mismanagement. That is absurd. "We needed to change a lot of things, and change is hard.". When asked if she stood by the content of the since-disappeared post, Carmichael remained steadfast: I did really careful, thorough research, and the evidence is there. Naturally, we were dismayed to discover one more problemthe survey placed on Deadspin. I had experience and confidence in the people who were hired. Spanfeller, who became head of the digital media company when GMG was purchased by private equity firm Great Hill Partners, told staff that he expected the site's direct advertising to "take the. When confronted with this negative feedback, Spanfeller insisted that he cannot be sexist because he has daughters. "You can write a blog, just don't publish them here.". One major conflict arose over whether the company should build a video player in-house or pay for a third-party platform. James J. Spanfeller is president of The Spanfeller Group, a management consultancy focusing on digital strategy, audience development, revenue acceleration and talent acquisition. Holle Abee (author) from Georgia on February 14, 2013: Duff performed at W's inauguration. I am and will continue to be a very strong advocate for my team.. The role was not posted nor was it communicated to me in time where I would have even been given equal opportunity to be considered, she said. Flanagan volunteered to go first, and what followed wasnt overwhelmingly inspiring, as one sales employee who was at the meeting put it: Flanagan read word for word what was on the slides, two people present confirmed. ), The internal reaction to these hires has ranged from confusion to anger. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Employees in G/O Media's editorial union urged the company's private-equity owners to replace G/O Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller in a letter Monday, saying a change in leadership was . Spanfeller was hired by private equity firm Great Hill Partners to run the company after it was purchased from Univision. Spanfeller said the goal was to find out what the key points of attraction are for our visitors.. Elsewhere in the company, G/O Media has pushed staffers at its site the AV Club to relocate to Los Angeles from Chicago, according to a recent report in Gawker, which is now owned by Bustle Digital Group. That distinction quickly sparked backlash in late 2019, when the staff of Deadspin resigned over the firing of a top editor and the company's mandate that the site stick to covering sports. According to sources familiar with the situation, the Onions union sent a letter to Spanfeller asking that he help provide a plan for the site and fill the vacuum left by top leadership. (Pontius left the company.) [8] In June 1993, Spanfeller became associate publisher for advertising at Inc. magazine, replacing Kristin Norrgard, who left to become publisher of Working Woman magazine. That the story has been submitted for legal review without the benefit of our responses leads me to the conclusion that the piece is already fully written and that our responses to questions are mere window dressing. In late July, more than a month after the womans conversation with Spanfeller (and after the Daily Beast and New York Post published stories about his rocky early days at the company and he became aware of the reporting process for this story about his hiring practices), that same VP was given what management called a promotion, which Spanfeller noted in his responses to Deadspin, saying that she has been promoted to VP Marketing under Bruce Rogers with wider responsibilities., I am at the same level and performing the same duties now as I was before I got this supposed promotion, the VP said. I expect to be treated the way I treat people., This pattern played out three more times in Spanfellers first few months as CEO. A leading digital publisher producing category leaders The Daily Meal and The Active Times. Senior vice president of marketing Bruce Rogers, who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes. Other top employees who have left the company since the start of Spanfellers reign include former A.V. A voter's representatives in government. In the meantime, Carmichael had her own message for Spanfeller: Congratulations on confirming your herb-ishness.. In turn, Spanfeller hired a number of his old media friends and former colleagues from Forbes, Playboy, and other outlets to fill top roles at G/O Media, while also failing to make public job postings for many of these roles. The next day she refused to join me in communicating our plans to Susie. When asked by Deadspin why he wouldnt name an interim editor while that search took place in order to stabilize the site and ensure that the people filling in were properly compensated for their work, Spanfeller said that the Onion union demanded that we immediately promote two people into those roles. If I had known, I would have been happy to interview her and consider her for the role., On June 20, the next time Spanfeller was in Chicago, the SVP met with him to ask why she had been overlooked. Spanfeller responded that he would be happy to get together, but did not say anything about open roles. Steve Thompson, 55, was installed over a female vice president who had been running west coast sales for two and a half years. Ad revenue rebounded, Spanfeller told Insider last year. McAvoy described the SVP of marketing job as a combination of sales strategy, account management, and managing creative teamsall responsibilities that fell under the SVPs purview. (Spanfeller says this is inaccurate and that he did consider other candidates for the editorial director role, but Paul quickly rose to the top after he expressed an interest in the position.) Three of the men Spanfeller hired were installed over successful women who had been at the company for years. The VP had a call with McAvoy and Spanfeller to discuss the process, asking Spanfeller why he hadnt even reached out to her about the position. I hired Katie who accepted the job, he wrote. Mr. Spanfeller has a BA in English Literature from Union College, Schenectady, New York. In early April, Great Hill Partners, a private-equity firm, acquired Gizmodo Media Groupa collection of sites, formed from the assets of the old Gawker, that included Jezebel, Lifehacker, and Deadspinas well as The Onion, a satirical news site, reportedly at a fire-sale price.The company, renamed G/O Media, installed Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes.com, Playboy, and Ziff Davis, as CEO. That union's collective bargaining agreement expires in February. In the email, Spanfeller said he was "greatly concerned about the objectivity and core intentions of this piece," and questioned the editorial standards of Deadspin's editors. I have stood up for and advocated for my team since the day I started at G/O. The CEO alleged. James J. Spanfeller serves as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President of Electronic Publishing for . [15][16] In January 2020 the GMG union, which represents the staff of G/O media, announced a vote of no confidence in CEO Jim Spanfeller citing, among other issues, a lack of willingness to negotiate for "functional editorial independence protections. Jeremy Gordon Oct292019 03:41PM EST. I realized that I wasnt communicating my advocacy for the department or our initiatives to upper management and other departments back to the team clearly enough. In a follow-up meeting with Spanfeller about the story, she suggested that hard financial data might not be their audiences central interest. Use this information as you see fit. The Daily Meal was acquired by Tronc in 2016. The tech team managed to execute the move in about a month, but before they had finished, Spanfeller changed course and decided that the developers should build an entirely new video platform and player from scratch, explaining the decision by saying that that was what he did at Forbes, according to employees involved. A senior vice president who has worked for what is now G/O Media for four and a half years met with Spanfeller in the companys Chicago office shortly after he purchased the company in April. Justice announced he was switching his party affiliation . G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller said the company would become "nicely profitable" by the end of the year, after it's been . [1] He is also a past Chairman of the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and longtime executive board member of Digital Content Next (DCN). In two cases, women asked for and were promised the opportunity to interview for executive-level positions for which they were qualified, only to see Spanfeller hire one of his former colleagues before they were given a chance to interview. . You wrote a 'story,'" Spanfeller recalled telling staff. That said, I and the management team received a list of questions from the reporter working this story for Deadspin and those questions left me greatly concerned about the objectivity and core intentions of this piece. John Taggart for The Washington Post / Getty Images. Shortly after the sale in April, she said, she met briefly with Spanfeller and explained to him her role and responsibilities in the company, which was primarily to work directly with clients to secure partnerships, instead of going through media ad agencies. Youre not qualified. Jim Spanfeller, That is clearly evident when you note the poor syntax and galling bias of the questions. G/O Media workers went on strike today in part to protect remote work. Jim Spanfeller . Spanfeller said he did not recall the specific request. Political affiliation. In an emailed statement to Deadspin, Spanfeller claimed that he did not make the hires, but admitted to making professional introductions for some of these new employees. Have a tip we should know? We may earn a commission from links on this page. He sits on the Board of Directors of The New York Chapter of The National Foundation for Teaching . They are parti pris, which is why the overwhelming majority do not do so and many will not even report on rivals for the same reason. Never mind the flood of negative stories about staff blowback over the company's editorial direction. The detection of possible errors in a person's voter record as well as instructions on how to update it. Additionally, Jim Spanfeller has had 6 past jobs including CEO at Forbes. Jun 8, 2020, 7:03 AM. A source said Spanfeller told editors-in-chief of the companys websites that he had chosen Maidment, 68, for the job before the sale was completed and did not interview other candidates, including Banikarim. He is currently the CEO of G/O Media which consists primarily of sites that were previously part of Gawker Media. Im shocked he would call that a good presentation, said the employee who was in the meeting. Still, tensions between management and staff are high at the company as it prepares to enter negotiations with the G/O Media editorial union, one of the two unions representing editorial workers at the company. Clashes between the Gawker Media editorial culture and the company's new private equity owner seemed inevitable from the start. (check all that apply); and What do you like LEAST about Deadspin? Initially, we had to move fast because the company was losing money at a rapid pace, he said. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Sean Flanagan, 55, who was hired to lead east coast sales, was also installed over a female senior sales employee, who had been at the company for four years before she left in July. Jack Crosbie, a former Splinter contractor and co-owner of Discourse, said that traffic declined at Splinter because G/O did not refill lost positions. New York(CNN Business) Two former executives are suing G/O Media, the parent company of sites including Gizmodo, Deadspin and The Onion, alleging discrimination and negligence. Spanfeller did offer to promote one female employee, former chief of staff for The Onion Katie Pontius, and make her the companys head of talent, but the position fell through after he demanded that she fire newsroom editorial director Susie Banikarimas her first management move, which Pontius refused, according to sources who spoke to Deadspin. I read that she's a registered Republican in Texas. "There's been a lot of pain in this, but it's worth it to get properties that are as great as these properties are," Spanfeller said of G/O's 11 publications, which include Gizmodo, Jezebel, The Onion, Lifehacker, The Root, and Kotaku. This has led to some protest among employees, as one staffer told Deadspin, It definitely feels like its the old boys club. A second employee told the site, This guy just seems like he doesnt like women.. Ultimately, the issue of building a wall has raised political risk, Cramer said. As you know, one reason that I dont believe that publications should write about themselves is because I fear it damages perceived external credibility in editorial independence, which, if anything, makes keeping advertisers at bay harder, not easier. The digital media and blogging network, which oversees websites like Deadspin, Gizmodo, Jezebel, A.V. "There's a fly and he's a swatter, and that's it," the former executive said. The only person that I was aware of that was calling directly on clients was an SVP at The Onion and that was to sell creative services, he said. pretty big scoop from me Jim Spanfeller is a herb https://t.co/gZDCs6mfhC. Heres The REAL Clip, Christian Walker GOES OFF on Predator Matt Schlapp for Allegedly Groping Male Campaign Staffer: Hes Done This Before, Im Sure!, LOL. Now that we are closer to stabilizing the company, there can be a more deliberate recruitment and hiring process. We sent a request for an explanation and did not receive a response. Political affiliation means the state of belonging to or endorsing any political party. The employees, nearly all of whom requested anonymity because of fears of retaliation from company management, are angered by a lack of communication regarding company goals, seeming disregard for promoting diversity within the top ranks of the company, and by repeated and egregious interference with editorial procedures. A spokesperson for G/O has yet to respond to a request for clarification, but we will update this post if and when that changes. After two years of mainly working from home, the company wants everyone back in the office four days a week. Laura M. Browning and Caitlin PenzeyMoog, the A.V. He would stop into peoples offices with the doors open and scream at them, so everyone knew what was going on., 5. I told Mike, verbally and in writing, that I would be interested in taking on new responsibilities and opportunities within the organization and I would like to interview for whatever position would be a part of that, she told Deadspin. 12-Year-Old Prankster Throws Dead Snake on Woman's Car and Gets Flattened by Husband 15,743. Whenever a publication shuts down, as has happened more and more over the last few years, it undergoes a public eulogizing by its employees, the friends of its employees, the people who wanted to work there, and most importantly the readers, whose tributes are . He said the company was just profitable before the pandemic hit its business, and is now comfortably back in the black. Traffic has fallen across G/O Media's portfolio over the past two years, which Spanfeller pinned on industry-wide struggles to generate audience plus the loss of Deadspin and Splinter. The differences were as granular as whether to call published pieces "blogs" or "stories." Employees across editorial, sales, and tech have left, but many of these positions, even mission-critical ones, have not been filled. About their hires, he wrote, I introduced Steve and Lance to Mike McAvoy, but I did not make the hires. I think the thing thats most strange about it is that they didnt coordinate with the editorial side of the business. (The people I work for and the people who report to me know what I do, Rogers, 63, told Deadspin in an email.). Its hard to imagine what one would not like on that list of items, Reibstein said of the third question. Mr. Rich, who will report to G/O Media Chief Executive Jim Spanfeller, . The G/O Media union sent the following statement regarding the survey: The GMG Union has made repeated good-faith efforts to cooperate with management in resolving the many outstanding issues currently facing the company, from workplace accessibility to a video player that lacks viable metrics. Jim Spanfeller the beleaguered boss of G/O Media, which owns The Onion and Deadspin is being sued by two former executives who claim in separate lawsuits that he discriminated against . "[17], "Great Hill Partners Agrees to Acquire Gizmodo Media Group", "Great Hill Partners Acquires Gizmodo Media Group", "President & CEO, Jim Spanfeller Named as IAB Chairman", "Alumni Album: Helping Us Connect to the Web", "Advertising; 4 Young Executives On Move at Newsweek", "Playboy Hires 2 New Execs; Title of Publisher Goes to 1", "New Gizmodo boss Jim Spanfeller is an old school digital media vet", "After Days Of Resignations, The Last Of The Deadspin Staff Has Quit", "Deadspin Is ZombifiedBut Gawker's Content Warriors Fight On", "The Media-Sensational Rise and Fall of "Jim Spanfeller Is a Herb", "GMG Union votes no confidence in G/O Media CEO Jim Spanfeller", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Jim_Spanfeller&oldid=1074755870, This page was last edited on 2 March 2022, at 00:52. The survey on Deadspin, however, had some serious issues, he said. View Jim Spanfeller's professional profile on LinkedIn. In that 30-minute meeting, the woman told Deadspin, Spanfeller told her that Univision had been a bad owner and that he saw an opportunity to make improvements and turn a profit. Find Out With This Weeks News Quiz. Spanfellers pushed back against these internal criticisms of his questionably ethical hiring process and management style by blaming G/O Media for losing money too fast. [2][3], Spanfeller graduated from Union College with a B.A. Everything theyve done in reaction to it is the herbiest shit I could possibly imagine. Asked about the contract, Spanfeller responded, I firmly believe in editorial integrity. Follow him on Twitter here: @calebecarma. That evening, the woman received an email from McAvoy telling her that the SVP of marketing job had been filled with someone who worked with Spanfeller at Forbes. Never mind that employees called for his resignation last year. [2], In 2019, G/O Media's sports blog Deadspin received media attention when all of its writers and editors resigned after an edict given by upper management to "stick to sports". While Carmichael was on a plane to Paris, I discovered that G/O had changed her accounts URL from emma.kinja.com to lajskhclsahkchkad.kinja.com, while going to emma.kinja.com now redirects to the new URL, at the time of the change, it simply showed a broken page. The fourth known instance of Spanfeller overlooking a woman at the company in favor of a white male former colleague also happened on the sales team. After Gawker's high-profile legal battle with Hulk Hogan, Univision in 2016 purchased its other media properties out of bankruptcy for $135 million, but struggled and sold the assets, including add-ons like The Onion, to Great Hill Partners in 2019. Unlike private equity investors who financially engineer acquisitions, burdening companies they buy with debt and massive . "We closed Splinter because it was a liberal political site that was losing audience in the middle of a liberal moment," he said. Sports News Without Fear, Favor or Compromise. And Fake. (10 is very satisfied, 1 is very unsatisfied); What do you like MOST about Deadspin? Over the last few weeks, during their attempts to hinder or prevent the publication of this story, Maidment and Spanfeller invoked concerns about Deadspins credibility in covering G/O Media. On July 9, he hired Faiza Javaid as deputy general counsel, a position that was posted publicly. (check all that apply). It wasn't Great Hill's first foray into the media business it had previously invested in IGN and sold Ziff Davis but the G/O deal was a tiny one for a firm that describes itself as "targeting investments of $25 million to $500 million.". He did not answer a question about whether he was aware that a female VP was already leading west coast sales or that he installed a man (who also carries a VP title) above her. [He] wasnt interested in hearing what someone with 20 years of experience would say.. And he made sure to make it clear that I just didnt get it in his mind that I just didnt get this whole digital thing, she said. On July 25, a pop-up survey appeared on Deadspin asking three questions: How satisfied are you with Deadspin? This is the same thing that has also happened to Deadspin. She told Deadspin she was surprised that Spanfeller seemed to know little about her team, which last year won Digidays best content studio award.. Internet Life, a joint publication of Ziff-Davis and Yahoo!. Spanfeller said no one told him that a female VP was already successfully performing that job before he hired Thompson. In its brief life, the postwritten by Emma Carmichael, a former editor at a former version of the companywas viewed nearly 100,000 times and was tweeted out by the official People for Bernie Twitter account. They cant even pitch effectively, said another employee who was present. Spanfeller says Pontius accepted the job, but he decided she was not a good fit for this position after Pontius refused to join me in communicating our plans to fire Banikarim. Below are some of the biggest revelations outlined in Deadspins roughly 7,000 word report on their parent company and its new management, which they spoke to nearly two dozen G/O Media employees for. A week after Spanfeller insisted to Varietythat he did not plan to cut our way to growth, the CEO fired 25 employees, including in top positions, such as axing former Gizmodo Media Group editorial director Susie Banikarim. Who even told you you were allowed to think about audience? the woman alleged. In April, the tech team was told to move the companys video operations off of MCP, which Univision paid for to host video content, and onto JW Player, a cheaper video system. Former CEO of http://Forbes.com, Chairman Emeritus, IAB, Sec OPA NYCJoined April 2009 266Following 1,878Followers Tweets Tweets & replies Media Likes Jim Spanfeller's Tweets Jim Spanfeller @JimSpanfeller Mar 13, 2020 Good News! The post was so popular, in fact, that it apparently gained the attention and ire of Spanfeller himself (perhaps partially due to the fact that someone registered Deadspin2.com and set it to redirect to Carmichaels post). The other is still in college., Four of nine major hires have been women, Spanfeller said. Asked for a response to the latter allegation, Spanfeller responded, That is absurd. Jim Spanfeller Biography. In addition to clichs like we are ambitious and be passionate and have fun, the fifth value on the list said, We will be at our best when we embrace many different perspectives and experiences. I was also hiring a good portion of these jobs before I actually took over day to day control of the company. As for the content of the survey, Reibstein said it is possible to read it as innocent, a way to attempt to gauge customer satisfaction, as its known in the marketing industry. Like many media companies, G/O Media's advertising business was battered by the pandemic. Several high-ranking employees have left the company over the past three months, departments have been stretched thin, and those who remain say that Spanfellers micromanaging and inappropriate interference has hamstrung their ability to effectively do their jobs. Spanfeller Media is working to redefine content for the digital era. These vacant roles have yet to be filled and Spanfeller has not announced an interim editor. Throughout his career he has recieved more than 60 awards for his work from such . Steve Riley on February 14, 2013: Just right off the bat. Hes trying to micromanage, the tech employee said last week. Multiple employees on the tech team say the chief technology officer, Jesse Knight, has repeatedly shown himself unable or unwilling to stand up to Spanfeller and advocate for his team and best practice standards. All rights reserved. This guy just seems like he doesnt like women, another added. There are regions that were within my scope of responsibilities and within my role that I cannot call on and neither can my team.. The confusion stems from a lack of communication. The takeover of G/O Media, previosuly known as Gizmodo Media Group and Gawker Media, by former Forbes executive Jim Spanfellercontinues to throttle downhill, as one of the companys news sites, Deadspin, published a scathing expos on Friday detailing a litany of problems employees have faced since investment firm Great Hill purchased Gizmodo and placed Spanfeller in control. We have no credibility in writing about ourselves. "You're not a 'blogger,' you're a professional journalist. Great Hill Partners and current CEO Jim Spanfeller, formerly of Forbes, bought these sites and the Onion from Univision Communications Inc. in April. He previously served as President & Chief Executive Officer of Forbes.com, a leading media Internet company, and as Executive Vice President . When asked if it was inaccurate, then, to say she had accepted the job, Spanfeller did not respond. Neither Sean nor Jim ever reached out to ask, Hey, what are you doing, how are you doing it, how is it working? There was never a conversation about my role, she told Deadspin. It was four days old. Meanwhile, many people who are still at the company feel their work is being hindered by new management. During Jim Spanfeller's younger years, he lived in Pennsylvania and recieved his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1952 from the Philladelphia Academy of the Fine Arts. Then, in early June, former Onion CEO Mike McAvoy, whountil he was separated from the company on July 11had been leading sales across all the sites, told the SVP that Spanfeller had hired two new sales leaders, Flanagan and Thompson. Everyone can seeit on the pageor at least, everyone could see it before the censorship. The key journalistic properties descended from . The sales employee (who is not an SVP) wasnt surprised to hear that Spanfeller didnt know what she did. Gov. It is ridiculous to launch a management survey questioning the editorial value of the site. James J. Spanfeller Jr. is an American media executive best known for running Forbes.com from 20012009. G/O Media shuttered its politics site, Splinter, in 2019. The post, published Tuesday evening, proved wildly popular on Twitter. Or to keep it anonymous, click here. I Close-Read the 113-Page Complaint Trying to Ban the Abortion Pill in Texas. Amid the chaos, someone edited Spanfeller's Wikipedia entry to read, "Jim Spanfeller is a fart-faced fascist best known for running Forbes.com from 2001-2009." (That language has since . Slate is published by The Slate Group, a Graham Holdings Company. Mr. McAvoy was clear to me on his opinion that he did not think she was the right choice at this time, Spanfeller said. I intend to continue supervising the reporting process, including legal review, and then publish a thorough and fair story, which of course would include responses from people we spoke to. Club, and Splinter, was purchased by the firm in April, along with the satirical news site The Onion, which led to a massive shift in the companys culture and considerable turnover in the top ranks or, as one G/O Media employee put it, Spanfeller has brought in a bunch of white dudes to change the company. While the archived version of the post did not preserve the original images, you can view a PDF of the original post below. As I said in the article, some of the celebs I mentioned could have changed their political leanings. Think Youre Smarter Than a What Next Producer? According to Great Hill Partners' website, Spanfeller "has led comparable media platforms and positioned them for successful strategic exit," which probably means something to someone, somewhere,.
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